


they say that when doppelgängers meet, one of them has to die

by hayashii



Category: Gintama
Genre: Blood and Gore, Clones, Gen, Gintoki's Birth Theory, I wouldn't consider this a happy ending, Let me know if I should add any tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-05-31 01:22:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19415554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hayashii/pseuds/hayashii
Summary: How to reunite with your long-lost "family":1. Win a trip to the hot springs.2. Go to the hot springs.3. Get lost in the mountain.4. Discover an underground facility in a mountain.5. ???Where did he mess up? Gintoki thought to himself, as he watched the crumbled mountain get engulfed in a blaze of fire.





	1. Chapter 1

**they say that when doppelgängers meet, one of them has to die**

1)

 ****Once again, Lady Luck embodied herself within the Yato girl, known as Kagura. Despite her cranking the handle of the lottery machine at the impossible speed of 100 spin per second (and actually causing the plastic foldable table under it to crack a little), what came out of the drum was a tiny, golden ball.

“A _kintama_!” She exclaimed and Shinpachi immediately slapped his hand over the girl’s mouth. Meanwhile, the person in charge was busy ringing the victory bell with vigor.

“Kagura- _chan_ don’t be vulgar!”

 _Ring ring ring_ , “Winner! Winner!” _Ring ring ring_. There was a splattering of applause from the small crowd behind them. Once the man held out the three _onsen_ trip tickets, Kagura snatched them up and skipped down the road.

“Hot springs! Food! Inn!” She chanted, and the dog Sadaharu barked alongside her.

“Ah! Kagura- _chan_ don’t lose them!” Shinpachi chased Kagura, demanding the tickets for safekeeping. 

Gintoki sighed, picking up the forgotten grocery bags one at a time. With both hands full, he called after the children, “Hey! Don’t make me carry all these! Come back!”

* * *

There was always a perfect balance between the three Yorozuya. If Gintoki Sakata packed nothing, then Kagura packed too much. They cancelled each other out. Then it would be Shinpachi Shimura who would revoke suitcase privileges from them and refold clothes and squeeze things into bags so space consumption was at its most efficient.

“Why the heck do you need this.” Shinpachi shook his head, tossing the pillow backwards, “Kagura- _chan_ , stop packing things we won’t need.”

“That pillow wasn’t me!”

“Yea, I need that pillow.” Gintoki said, not looking away from his _Jump_ magazine. “I can’t sleep without that pillow.”

Shinpachi exploded, “Bullshit! I’ve seen you sleep without that pillow! You’re trying to make my life harder!”

While Shinpachi scolded Gintoki, Kagura took the opportunity to sneak ten boxes of _sukonbu_ into one of the suitcases. Gintoki glanced at the girl and she returned a thumbs up.

* * *

On the morning of the trip, Kagura was uncharacteristically up, bright and early.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!” Kagura was bouncing on her feet at the front entrance, while Shinpachi hauled the three suitcases. 

“Kagura-chan, if you want us to get there faster, then help me carry something!”

“Here, gimme one.” Gintoki took the bag on Shinpachi’s shoulder and swung it over his shoulder. “We better hurry if we don’t want to miss the train.”

“Ah, thanks Gin- _san_.”

“Oi, Kagura. You’re the strongest one here. You need to carry something too!” Gintoki reprimanded and Kagura groaned.

“ _Fiiine_.” She re-entered the house and took a bag from Shinpachi, who finally straightened back after being held down by the weight of the luggage.

“You got the stuff?” Gintoki asked. The three had to redeem the tickets at the marketplace office for subway tickets and the _ryoukan_ vouchers. Shinpachi patted his chest where he had placed the envelope in the folds of his _hakama_.

“All here.”

“Good, we gave Granny the dog food, along with Sadaharu. Let’s go.”

“We’ll see you in four days!” Kagura said to the empty office.

Then, they departed on a sunny August Monday morning for their rare holiday.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> References to the Kintama arc. Hope you already caught to that point in Gintama if you're reading this.

[2]

“Yorozuya. _Tsk._ ”

“Sakata-san. _Tch_.”

“Danna!” At least one of them sounded even remotely welcoming. Sougo gave Gintoki a nod, while returning Kagura’s glower with a middle finger. All three of the Shinsengumi were in the light blue ryoukan yukatas. Seeing the high ranking officials in a bright color, rather than the usual black uniforms gave them a refreshing vibe.

“This is surely a bad omen.” Hijikata grumbled, “Let’s just go back to Edo, Kondo- _san_.”

“Don’t worry Toshi, we’ll be fine as long as we avoid them.”

“Rude, that is our line.” Gintoki drawled, “This is obviously a foreshadow to something bad happening on our vacation.”

“How is this a vacation when everyday is like a vacation to you?”

“What was that?” Gintoki and Hijikata started a glaring deathmatch. Eventually, both sides managed to pull away from one another and go about on their way.

Toushirou Hijikata huffed as he pulled out his pack of cigarettes and his favorite lighter that is shaped like a Kewpie mayonnaise. His tense shoulder finally sagged after his first stick burned down to the filter. By this point, Sougo had wandered away in search of entertainment.

“Kondo- _san_ , I’m going to be honest: I have no clue why Matsudaira pops would send us on a vacation like this. At least, _I_ don’t need a vacation, I still need to be there and-”

“Hang on there Toshi, we all needed a break for a long while now.” Kondo reassured Hijikata. “Especially you, Toshi. Don’t think that no one noticed your hard work. All the men respect you and so does pops. So relax once in a while, and let’s just enjoy ourselves.”

Isao Kondo is a good man, Hijikata thought. There was a reason why this man was the commander of the Shinsengumi. A smile crept up on Hijikata’s face, “Well, I wouldn’t say no to dipping in the outdoors hot springs this place is famous for.”

“Now we’re talking!”

Meanwhile, the Yorozuyas were trudging along. They had already checked in and were shown to their room. Now they were looking for things to do.

“Aw shit, that put me in a bad mood.” Gintoki grumbled, “I’m gonna go on a walk or somethin’ to clear my head.”

“You’re obviously looking for sake.” Shinpachi chided.

“You caught me.” Gintoki grinned sheepishly, “I’ll be back by tonight, so you two children have fun. I think I saw a table tennis over at the recreation hall.”

“Okay! I will beat Shinpachi!” Kagura chirped, waving goodbye to Gintoki’s retreating back.

Shinpachi grimaced, “Literally.” 

* * *

“A good bar, nice bar, decent bar.” Gintoki sang as he walked down the business street of the town. Most of the bars were closed during the day, so he was at a loss. And he did not really want to go into a sit-down restaurant and drink their expensive liquor.

“Shiro- _san_ , thank you as always for the business.”

“My pleasure.”

Gintoki’s attention was caught by the sound of… his own voice. Then he turned, and he saw a man of his height, with silver perm, and red eyes. A complete mirror image of him, except for the simple royal blue yukata with a darker green sash. In his hand, he held a hefty satchel.

And immediately, the alarms in Gintoki’s head started blaring:

 _NOPE. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO. NOPE. We are NOT doing another new main character bullshit! Last time was horrible! At least last time it was GOLD. We can not have TWO silver characters. Kagura is red, Shinpachi is blue and I am supposed to be silver! There’s a balance! I can’t let some plain RIPOFF take my spot. And also, how DARE he have the same seiyuu as me!_ Gintoki fumed, then suddenly became wary and hid behind one of the market-stands.

“I’m gonna find out where he lives and…” Gintoki’s expressions darkened. “Kill him.”

* * *

Near the outer perimeter of the inn, Hijikata had been enjoying his afternoon smoke when Kagura barreled into him. Without an apology, she jumped into a long verse about the crisis that had been happening for her and Shinpachi.

“Gin-chan hasn’t come back!” Kagura cried, “We searched for hours and hours, and he still hasn’t returned!”

Hijikata looked down at the sobbing girl and felt pity wedge itself deep into his heart. Normally the China was a crude, gluttonous brat, who also happened to mirror all of Gintoki’s disgusting behaviors. But now, she was a child who lost her father-figure.

Awkwardly, he placed his hand on Kagura’s red hair and patted gently, “We’ll find him.”

“Really?” She looked up at him with watery blue eyes. “I’m scared that he… he…”

 _Died?_ Hijikata thought. But there was no way that stubborn man would ever die. If someone looked up Gintoki Sakata in the dictionary, you may as well see the word ‘cockroach,’ there too, because that bastard was one of the hardest people to kill.

Shinpachi somehow managed to catch up to Kagura, who had bolted from the room in a fit of tears.

“There you are!” He gasped for breath. “Oh, Hijikata- _san_!”

“I heard everything from China.” Hijikata stubbed out the cigarette he was smoking in his portable ashtray. Though he was outside in a smoking-zone, he was always wary about his bad habits around children. “So he went out and didn’t come back?”

“Yes, and he promised that he would be back by yesterday night…” Shinpachi seemed apprehensive, “It’s been a whole 24 hours by now, since he left around 3 p.m. last time.”

“Does he usually do this?”

“Um… actually, yes. He sometimes says he’ll come back in a couple hours and then we find him at the pachinko or a bar.”

“Then won’t he just come back later?”

“But the problem is, we’re in a new place, and we wouldn’t know where to find him. We already went into town and ask about the local bars and checked those out. He wasn’t there.” Shinpachi’s eyes trailed to the ground, “And… I know he wouldn’t leave us alone like this. This was a trip where we spend time together.”

“This is a problem then…”

“Toshi, what’s the matter?” Kondo approached the group, with a bottle of _ramune_ soda in his hand.

“Good timing, Kondo- _san_ , it seems the Yorozuya went missing.”

“What?" Kondo glanced at Kagura and back towards Hijikata, "How long ago?”

“Gone for 24 hours.”

Kondo sighed. “Jeez. Well, if Miss China is crying like this, then it must be serious. We’re calling Sougo and let’s investigate the town.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave me a comment or feed back!


	3. Chapter 3

[3]

“What is it China? Are you still upset that you lost at ping-pong yesterday?” Sougo teased, upon noticing Kagura’s puffy, blood-shot eyes from the crying.

“Not now, Sougo.” Kondo warned and Sougo looked up at his commander with a sudden cool-headed seriousness.

“Did something happen?”

“Well, Sakata- _san_ apparently went missing. He’s not in the inn, or the hot springs. And the last place he was in was apparently the town.”

“Then we’d start there.”

“Exactly.”

The Shinsengumi officers were in their plain clothes, while Kagura and Shinpachi wore their normal everyday clothes. 

“Ya know, wouldn’t it be normal to actually report a missing person report to the local police?” Sougo suggested.

“True, but it would take some time with the paperwork. And besides, aren’t we technically police?”

Sougo shrugged. Then he turned to the Yorozuya duo, “So you searched the bars already?”

“Yea, we knocked on their doors and the owners told us they never saw a silver haired man.”

“ _Danna_ makes a pretty strong impression on people when they first meet him. It wouldn’t make sense if the owners just forgot.” Sougo deduced. This was very true - either Gintoki was known for his unruly drunk behavior, or for his silver appearance.

It was Hijikata’s turn to ask, “Did you two only questioned the bars?”

“Yes, only places where they would have alcohol.”

“No wonder you didn’t get far. When did you say when Yorozuya left?”

“Around 3, right after we met yesterday.”

“None of the bars would’ve been open.”

“Oh!” Kagura jolted, “Where else would he go, sugar!”

Kondo nodded, “Let’s search for some sweets shop.”

* * *

The first dango shop was a bust.

The second place was a traditional Japanese sweets shop.

And then they were on their way to the third one when…

“Oh, you five! Are you looking for Shiro- _san_?”

She was a woman in her mid fifties, with a plain apron fastened around her waist. She ran the small grocery shop.

“No, Gin- _chan_.” Kagura corrected her.

“Colors, colors.*” The woman waved the air, “But when you were talking to Takemi- _san_ , you said he was… this tall,” she placed her hand a feet above her head, “and had curly silver hair, and red eyes, right?”

“Dead fish eyes.” Sougo inputted. If there was one thing that stood out with Gintoki was his eyes that always were dim with laziness.

“Fish eyes…” The lady tapped her chin in thought, “I wouldn’t say that…”

“Well, who is this Shiro- _san_?” Shinpachi asked.

“Shiro- _san_ is the man who comes by each week to buy sugar. At least 50 pounds.”

“A sugar addict?”

“I’m actually not sure. When I asked him where he lived and what he did for a living, he said he lived in that mountain.” She pointed and the group turned their heads. There was indeed a mountain, alright. “And he was using the sugar for ‘consumption’. Made me think that he was a candy maker or something.”

“In a mountain?”

“That mountain is privately owned, the government doesn’t own it or anything. Not sure about the land tax, since we are in the country-side.” 

After gathering more tidbits, the group thanked the lady and left. The kind lady even gave them a box of sukonbu, after Kagura had been ogling at the selections for so long.

“We don’t have any other leads.” Hijikata frowned, pulling out his cigarette out of habit.

“No, we do.” Shinpachi said, “That mountain.”

“You’re not serious, are you?” Hijikata puffed his cigarette, “That could have been a lie. It might be a waste of time.”

“What is a waste of time is the fact we’re just standing around doing nothing.” Shinpachi looked fierce, as if hope was rekindled back into him, “It’s weird how someone who looks just like Gin- _san_ is here. Maybe they met. The grocery-store owner did say that Shiro- _san_ came yesterday around 3.”

The officers looked at one another and then at the mountain. It was right there. But on a mountain that wide? Who knows.

“It does not hurt to try, but it hurts to not try, huh?” Kondo mused, “Alright, we’ll have quick hike for any clues. It’ll start getting dark in three hours.”

“Thanks gorilla!” Kagura cheered, then she charged ahead with her parasol, “We need to hurry!”

* * *

“Thank god it’s not that steep.” Shinpachi mentioned. His wandered from tree to tree, searching for clues.

“No, it’s an easy walk, at least on this trail we are on.” Hijikata mentioned. Then he stopped. Everyone else in the group stopped, giving the vice-commander a quizzical look.

“Trail.” Hijikata repeated.

“And?” Sougo asked.

“We literally had to jump over an electrified fence--”

“You mean get tossed by that China gorilla--”

“--to get here. It doesn’t make sense that there would be a trail, unless someone uses the road frequently.”

“So we just need to follow this trail.”

“Exactly.”

They hiked on for another thirty minutes, when the path ended. Everyone looked at Hijikata for an explanation.

“Don’t look at me!”

“You were the one who told us to follow the trail!” Kagura yelled

“It was the best we had, brat!”

“Now what!”

While the two had been yelling, something bumped hard into a tree, which rustled it strongly. This was accompanied by child’s voice. This immediately ceased the argument.

“What was that…” Shinpachi whispered.

“A wild animal.”

“Hijikata- _san_ , a wild animal does not make a ‘Ow!’ sound.”

The group looked at each other and nodded. Kondo took the initiative and stepped forward to the source of the sound.

And with a swift motion, he shoved the shrubbery away and found a silver-haired kid.

“A kid!”

“Really?” Kagura leapt forward and clapped her hands together, “He looks like Gin- _chan_!”

“No way.” Hijikata and the rest came forward, surrounding the terrified child. "Yea, he looks like what the Yorozuya would look like if he had been a brat."

The child stuttered, “Who… are you people?”

Shinpachi noticed the tremble in his voice and crouched down to eye-level, “Sorry for frightening you, we’re just people looking for a friend of ours.”

The kid didn’t reply, but behind the group, where the trail had ended, the metallic sound of a hinge being swung open was heard.

“Get away from Sen!”

They all turned to see that it was Gintoki, already halfway out of the hatchway, with an alarmed expression. Fear brimmed in those red eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *We know "gin" means "silver," while "shiro" is "white" in Japanese.
> 
> Let me know if you have any feedback or criticism! Thanks for reading!


End file.
